Let me give this show 5 stars to start with.
Then take away one star for it having no plot or decent book.
Take away another star for the fact that the score was filled with easily forgettable songs.
Lose another star for the poor set design which failed to create any atmosphere.
Lose a fourth star for the utter boredom it caused me.
The star that's left goes to Ruthie Henshall for having any faith in the show in the first place. Not even Ruthie's talents could rescue this mess. - USER: Whatsonstage.com
09 Oct 01
Thought I was going to hate every minute of it. But didn't mind it so much. Enjoyable story, quirky music and some fantastic performances. Shame it's closing, but in the current climate I don't think it had enough money put into it to survive. - USER: Whatsonstage.com
04 Oct 01
Painful. A so-so score, banal lyrics, a dreadful book, unimpressive dances and unattractive designs doom a potentially enjoyable concept. The occasional good lines lifted from the film are wasted by poor delivery and/or poor direction. Henshall sings well--both the 50s/60s bubblegum and the Webber wannabe power duets--but offers no significant characterization. The supporting cast offers only overblown caricatures. - USER: Whatsonstage.com
31 Aug 01
I saw this show in a preview on Monday, 13th Aug. 2001. When I booked the tickets I didnīt expect to much but after the show I really felt surprised about this spetacular show (and I see Mamma Mia and The Lion King just 2 days before for the first time). Anyway the new songs are perfectly wirtten for Ruthies voice but even the dance sequences, the whole company do everything to make this show a long run. I hope a lot people will have their fun.
Dirk Schroeder, Germany - USER: Whatsonstage.com
28 Aug 01
For the first time ever I walked out during a performance.
My friend & I saw a London preview,we discussed the show in the interval & agreed it was dreadful.We decided to give the second act a chance,but could only take 10 minutes - fortunately we were on the end of a row.
The story line is weak & sugary, the jokes corny,the dancing unexciting,the music unmemorable & the singing simply loud.
Ruthie Henshall should stick to grown up roles like Chicago. - USER: Whatsonstage.com
22 Aug 01
I thought this show was pretty awful. There's a great deal of excellent singing amongst the leads and Ruthie Henshall is particularly good, but the script and songs are not worth the trouble. The story is corny and silly and the music in completely forgettable. - USER: Whatsonstage.com
21 Aug 01
Peggy Sue Got Married (or how I lost the will to live in two and a half hours...)..
I wanted to love the show and dis-regarded negative comments before seeing the show tonight. I love the film by the way.. The bottom line is that Ruthie was stunning but was fighting a losing battle the whole time. So much talent wasted.. not only from Ruthie but from some of the supporting cast especially Andrew Kennedy who plays her husband Charlie. They had great singers totally wasted on mostly terrible material (for the songs think Grease wannabee(or even Grease 2 !!) meets Whistle Down the Wind for an occasional rock outburst !).
The main problem with the show is that the songs are dull..the lyrics are so generic that you can see the rhymes coming from a mile off and the opportunities for emotional payback are stunningly wasted. They even have a load of "half songs" that exist to cover the change in scenes.. they don't mean anything and are instantly forgettable. The book is mostly okay and is witty in places...(but with so much dialogue taken from a great movie they had that made anyway !) but I wanted to stand up and shout something offensive at the stage during many of the songs. I actually held my head in my hands during one scene in the second act becaue I couldn't bear to look at the stage.
It was also one of the shows where they have about four or five under developed "actual" characters but a cast of 30 pseudo characters to dance around and who are occasionally referenced by name to remind you they are supposed to be people in the story too....
If this lasts longer than two months then I am mounting a rescue party to get the actors out of the production... but of course it won't. If even a soft hearted sentimental "easy to please" bloke like me wants to scream abuse in the theatre then I can only imagine what the critics will do to the show. I gave Ruthie a standing ovation because she tried so hard, sang her heart out and most of all probably needs the emotional support right now.
Cheers, Lee.
- USER: Whatsonstage.com
21 Aug 01
After seeing the final performance at the theatre royal, Plymouth I was left in absolutely no doubt that this new musical will do very well when it opens in London.
I for one have been a huge fan of Ruthie Henshall, though this was my first experience of seeing her perform live. I would say without doubt that to date I haven't seen anybody in the whole of the West End,(and I have seen every musical in the west end in the past two years) who could vocally touch ruthie's performance and the incredible energy she carried throughout the entire production.
The whole cast was excellent, supporting the ruthie throughout. I personally can't fault the show in any ,way. A stunning score, Exceptional cast, excellent choreography and clever use of set. I only hope that critics will see sense, afterall, in my experience the best shows seem to get the worst revues and suffer, whereas the shows not worthy of running 5 seconds are praised and run for months. I hope to see Peggy Sue got Married still going strong in a years time!!! - USER: Whatsonstage.com
03 Aug 01
Ruthie Henshall gives a stunning performance as the "tempis fugitive"
(delightful confection!), demonstrating an outstanding vocal range and
versatility. Peggy Sue's sweetheart, Charlie (played by Andrew Kennedy),
has a beautifully plaintive voice, particularly well suited to the close
harmony style so evocative of the era. Tim Howar, as the beat poet
Michael, and Gavin Lee, the embryonic Bill Gates character Richard, also turn
in exceptional performances in a production bursting with talent. For a fast-moving show, there's a fast-moving, multi-levelled set, designed
by Ruari Marchison, who is also responsible for the magnificent costumes -
all of which reflect great attention to period detail. A truly entertaining family show.
- USER: Whatsonstage.com
19 Jul 01
I saw Peggy Sue Got Married in Plymouth on it's opening night of Monday, 9th July, 2001. For an opening night and a brave cast the show was superb. Ruthie Henshall does give an amazing performance and does stand a clear head and shoulders above the rest of the cast. The end of act one is an excellent disply of talent and musical theatre at it's best with "Two Kinds Of Fire", look out for that one! The show did display teething problems and have a imature feel to it. The set was let down a few times, scene changes were not as smooth as one would have hoped and Ruthie's microphone appeared to fade at one point! I then went again to see the show on Friday 13th July, with a friend. Maybe it was tradition that it would go wrong on this date, but the show had lost it's drive. Ruthie Henshall was still good, although in one of her opening bedroom songs, she is faced with a challenging score, hitting the top of her range, which seemed powerful and strong on monday, yet a bit weak and dull on friday. Monday saw a full house standing ovation, whereas friday saw some well meant claps. The cast was energetic and pulled monday through, friday was duller and not as inspired. Do go and see it, this has the potential to be a FANTASTIC show, but needs rounding off before making it's big city opening night in the West End. - USER: Whatsonstage.com
18 Jul 01
I saw Peggy Sue on the matinee performance of Thursday 12th July. Overall I thought the performance was good but with a few teething problems. To me this show was completely new - I have never seen the film or seen Ruthie Henshall perform before (I'm only 17). Firstly I would say that Ruthie's performance was amazing with a varied selection of songs which gave her a chance to use show the qualities of her voice. Her acting was also great with a good American accent (unlike other members of the cast). The score is tuneful with some memorable songs - although I did get bored after a while with the numerous 60s unaccompanied numbers (but maybe that's the youth of today!) - however watch out for 'Two kinds of Fire' - the song which ends the first act - it's so different from the others - it's style (Rock/Pop) and volume (extremely loud) leaves you desperate for the second act to start! Except the second act for me started terribly with the cast having lost focus and taking about ten minutes to warm up back into their characters. The set is interesting (??) - Don't expect anything too technical. Yes a lot of it is pushed on by members of the cast and there are several times when the backs of props or pieces of set are revealed to the audience by mistake. There is however a clever use of the revolve stage, splitting Peggy's house into three rooms. Although to be honest the audience can see too much of what's going on backstage which is very distracting - as well as the technical errors I experienced such as pieces of scenery being flown in crashing on top of set below (!!) and the cast managing to crash or dent various pieces of set as they push or pull them off in a hurry. Surprisingly there wasn't much backstage noise to go with it though! Nevertheless, I thought it was good entertainment - the theatre was only a third full (but there again it was a midweek matinee) but the audience (consisting of mostly over 65s - coach parties) gave a large applause with a few standing ovations (even though the 'bow sequence' was done to various tunes from the show which either made it impossible to applaud to - you either had to applaud with the rhythm and feel like watching a pantomime - or not applaud and look as though you didn't enjoy yourself!). Sadly, I was left with a sinking feeling that if certain things were not cleared up (accents, set, the changing of scenes etc) the critics could have a field day pulling it apart - it could really go either way.
If any of you are thinking of going to see it - do go, it's not terrible and there are certain moments which are amazing. Besides, the Theatre Royal Plymouth and theatre in Devon in general needs all the support it can get from London!!!
- USER: Whatsonstage.com
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